Assam's popular sweet "Goja"

 

Goja is an Assamese sweetmeat, very popular among people. I personally love this sweet a lot. I have been growing up indulging on this. Sadly we do not get to taste it on a regular basis as we stay away here in Mumbai. Last time I had Goja was in Moran (Assam) while returning back from my cousin brother's wedding to my parents' place in the month of feb. And since then I was so desperate to have it again. And finally I got to know the recipe of this oh-so-delicious sweet and did not wait much to give it a try in my kitchen. A simple easy recipe but a finger-licking taste. Being the first timer in experimenting this at home, I made a small batch this time.


Ingredients:

For the goja
Flour/Maida: 200 gms
Ghee/refined oil: 7-8 tbsp.
Soda bicarbonate: 1 tsp
Baking powder: A pinch
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp roasted
Cloves: 3-4 finely chopped
Pinch of salt
Sufficient water to make the dough.

For sugar syrup
Sugar: 5 tbsp.
Water: 2 cups


Method:

In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder. Mix rest of the ingredients mentioned above and make a very soft dough. Once its ready, spread the dough little less than an inch thick on a clean hard surface. I used the kitchen slab. Now with the help of a knife cut the dough in equal rectangular shapes.

Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai/deep bottomed pan for deep frying. Fry the gojas till it turns golden brown colour from all sides. Use a fork to check if the gojas are cooked properly from inside.

Prepare the sugar syrup in a saucepan with the water & sugar. It should not take more than 10-15 minutes. Sugar syrup should not be very thick.

Transfer the fried the gojas immediately to the hot sugar syrup , turn them & keep in the syrup for 5-7 minutes and remove. Keep them in refrigerator in air-tight containers and enjoy with your cup of tea.

 

Lamington - The Aussie classic: An Australian dessert

 

Baking was taking a back seat for last few months in my kitchen. Yesterday only I  thought of baking a cake for some guests but something different from the regular cakes. So it was lamington at home. Lamington which is a popular Australian dessert is basically sponge cake cut into squares, coat with chocolate sauce and roll onto coconut flakes. Heavenly delicious dessert I must say.. As I was having  some new oranges at home , so I baked an orange flavoured cake instead of the basic sponge cake. As all of us know that orange & chocolate is like match made in heaven, lamingtons tasted just awesome.

Ingredients:

For the orange cake:
Plain flour/maida: 2 cups
Butter: 1/2 cup melted at room temperature
Sugar: 1/2 cup (you can increase the sweetness as per your liking)
Egg: 2
Baking powder: 4 tsp
A pinch of salt
Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp
Orange juice: 1/4 cup
Orange zest: 1 tsp

For the chocolate sauce:

Butter: 2-3 tbsp. melted at room temperature
sugar: 1/2 cup powdered
Cocoa powder: 1/3 cup
Warm milk: 1/2 cup

&

Dry Coconut flakes: As required for rolling the cake pieces

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 270 degree Celsius. Grease a cake tin with butter/oil and dust some plain flour and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking powder and mix the orange zests.  Mix the butter & sugar in another bowl nicely. You can use a hand blender or beater as well. I use a balloon beater. Now into this, beat the eggs one by one till fluffy. Into this add the orange juice, and vanilla essence and again beat all nicely. Now add in the flour mixture into this in batches and combine well with the cut & fold method.

Pour the batter into the greased tin and bake at 180 degree Celsius for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Mine took almost 35 minutes.

Once the cake is ready, allow it to cool down.

In the mean while , prepare the sauce. In a mixing bowl , beat the sugar & butter till fluffy. Add the cocoa powder & mix. Finally add the milk and combine all nicely. The sauce should not be of running consistency. So if you feel your sauce becomes runny, you can put it on low-medium flame in a saucepan so that it thickens a little and is perfect for using. I had to do this to thicken my sauce.

In a bowl, take the coconut flakes.
Cut the cake into square sized shapes. Now dip one piece of cake into the chocolate sauce so that chocolate coats over the cake properly from all sides. Roll the cake piece on the coconut flakes and keep aside in a dish. Follow the same procedure for rest of the cake pieces.

So here s your lamingtons ready. Keep in refrigerator in air-tight container and enjoy with your cup of tea/coffee.

My guest  loved eating them for sure and that made me happy ..that I am sure of ..

Try this super delicious lamingtons and do share your feedback .

sojina aru xoriyohor bhaji - Drumstick with mustard

Do not we love this special preparation of Assam ? As a child I was not very fond of sojina (drumstick) . But with time passing by I have developed a liking for this particular vegetable. Most of the times I cook this with toor dal with lots of garlic & onion. Today I specifically bought these sojina for this preparation only. A simple recipe as most of our Assamese recipes are , with very minimum spices. A real delicious one. Do try in your kitchen and share your feedback too.

Ingredients:

Drumsticks: 3 tender drumsticks (you can increase the number as per your servings)
Yellow Mustard seeds: 2 tsp soaked in water for about 10-15 minutes
Onion: 1 medium sized
Garlic: 5-6 cloves
Tomato: 1 small sized cut into wedges
Green chilli: 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Mustard oil: 1 tbsp.
Water as required

Method:

Scrap the out hard layers of sojina and wash properly. Cut the sojina (drumsticks) into 2 or 2 1/2 inches lengthwise.

Make a paste of mustard seeds, onion, garlic, chilli in a mixer.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the above paste and fry for a minute or two and add the tomato, salt & turmeric powder and mix them well and cook till the tomato gets tender and pulpy. Now add the sojina and mix with all the ingredients and cover with a lid in low to medium flame for 2-3 minutes checking in between. Add sufficient water say about half cup. Cover again with the lid and cook till the sojina cooks and the gravy becomes thick.

Now your sojina aru xoriyohor bhaji - drumstick with mustard is ready. Serve hot with rice.

 

Assamese sweet Paiyox -kheer

Paiyox or kheer is a very common & most liked dessert of Assam. Its a preparation of rice & milk. The rice which we use to make this dessert in Assam is Joha Saool - a small grained rice with a beautiful & delicious aroma. I never skip to cook paiyox at home on any special day . We offer this to god as Prasad as well. On birthdays in family its a must cooked dessert which I have inherited from my mother.

As I live in Mumbai , due to unavailability of the Joha saool, I use here the normal kheer making rice that is very easily available in any grocery store.

Ingredients:

Rice: 4 tbsp.
Milk: 1/2 litre
Jaggery: 3 tbsp. (you can use sugar as well)
Bay leaves: 3
Green Cardamom: 4-5
Cinnamon stick: 1 medium sized
Raisins: 7-8 nos. (I am using both black & normal ones)
Almonds: 4 nos. (you can use cashew nuts also- I was out of stock)

Method:

Wash the rice properly and soak in water for about an hour or so to fasten the cooking process of the rice while making the paiyox.

Grate the jiggery and keep aside.

Thinly slice the almonds into flakes

In a heavy bottom pan, add the milk and bring it to boil. Now keep the flame low and let the milk simmer till it thickens a little. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, raisins and keep it on the flame for about 2-3minutes stirring in between.

Now add the rice and give it a nice mix. Cover half of the pan with a lid in low to medium flame for about 5 minutes checking in between. This should take about 10 minutes to get cooked properly. Once the rice is cooked , put the flame off.

Do keep an eye on the consistency of the paiyox while cooking. After putting the flame off, if needed , add some more milk to it as the milk evaporates quickly.

Now you add the grated jiggery and keep mixing well till the jaggery get dissolves in the paiyox. Sprinkle the almond flakes.

 

 

And there your delicious paiyox is ready to be served. Serve hot or cold as per your liking & choice.

 

Stuffed pointed gourd in coconut milk gravy

 

 

 

 

The first time ever I went correct with this dish with my own inputs ..I tried cooking this dish many a times as my mother & sister both makes it quite often and shares their recipes while we talk over the phone. I tried & failed !!

 

This time on last sunday somehow I made up my mind and I did it. And it turned out as it should be. Variations I did with this dish were I added some nutritional value to this dish by stuffing the pointed gourds with soya chunks and the gravy I made was with coconut milk. Coconut milk anyways makes a dish super delicious with its unique flavour which I like very much. Do try it in your kitchen and share your feedback too.

 

Ingredients:

For the stuffing

Pointed gourd: 5 (I used 5 numbers of potol. You can change as per your servings)

Onion: 1 medium sized grated

Garlic & ginger : 1 tbsp. grated

Soya chunks: 3-4 tbsp. (washed & cooked)

Salt to taste

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Cumin powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: A pinch

Oil: 2 tsp for making the stuffing

Oil deep frying the gourds (you can bake the stuffed gourds/potol if you want to keep it healthier)

 

 

For the gravy:

Black Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 5-6

Dry red chilli: 1-2

Onion: 1 medium sized grated

Ginger & garlic: 1 tbsp. grated

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp

Coconut milk: 1 cup

Oil : 1 tbsp

 

Method:

 

Wash the pointed gourds and scrap its outer skin lightly. Cut off the tips from both ends.  Scoop out the seeds from the broader end of the potol without breaking/damaging the other end - I used a knife to do this. You can use a spoon as well. Keep the seeds to use in the stuffing if you want. Else you can discard. I used it along with the soya chunks. Now keep them aside.

 

 

 

For the stuffing

In a pan heat the oil, add the onion and saute till translucent. Add  the ginger garlic and rest of the ingredients except the soya chunks & the scooped out seeds from the gourds. Saute the masalas for a minute or two and add the soya chunks and the seeds and mix them so that everything combines well. This will take about 3-4 minutes to get cooked. Put the flame off and keep it aside to cool.

 

Once cooled, stuff these in the gourds/potol and deep fry them and keep in a tissue paper.

 

For the Gravy:

Heat the oil in a pan/wok/kadhai. Add the mustard seeds, dry chillies, curry leaves and let them splutter. Add the onion and saute till translucent. Now add the ginger garlic and saute. Then add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and fry for a couple of minutes till they leave oil. Now add the coconut milk and stir well. Add salt, mix & Simmer for about 2-3 minutes covering with a lid checking in between. As the gravy thickens, add the fried potols/gourd and combine everything well. At this point if you think the gravy has thickened more, you can always add water. Add the garam masala powder, mix well and keep it in medium flame for about one or two minutes.

 

Now in a plate , arrange the potols/gourds and pour the gravy on them. Serve hot with rice .

 

 

 

You can give variation to the stuffing with chicken keema, prawn keema, cottage cheese, mashed potato as well.

 

Spicy Mint & Coriander rice

This particular dish has happened just like a new experiment by me. The other day I made a Mint & Coriander chutney which I am sure we all love to eat. Love this multipurpose green ! So this time I used it with my regular rice cooked for lunch. As I keep cooking tomato rice , I thought why not to cook normal rice with this chutney. Also I had to clear out this chutney within few days itself. So I went ahead and tried this awesome rice preparation. Easy to prepare and full of flavour. Mint & coriander surely enhanced the nutritional value .


Ingredients:

Cooked rice: 1 cup
Mint & Coriander chutney: 3 tbsp.(you can check the recipe for this in my blog)
Onion: 1 medium sized finely chopped
Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp
Black mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 4-5
Salt to taste
Dry red chillies: 1-2
Amchur powder/dry mango powder: 1/2 tsp
Ghee/refined oil: 2 tsp

Method:

Heat the ghee/oil in a pan. Add dry chillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves and allow them to splutter.  Now add the onion and saute till translucent. I am not using ginger & garlic here as I already  have used a good quantity of it while making the chutney. Add salt,  amchur powder and mix well. Now add the cooked rice and the mint coriander chutney. Mix everything very nicely so that all the ingredients combine with the rice. Cook this in a low to medium flame. Stir continuously for about 5 minutes until all the ingredients are well-combined.

Now put the flame off. Serve this rice hot with raita/pickle and enjoy.
.

 

Bread Rolls

Bread rolls are very common as breakfast or snack. A common & quick recipe that can be made with lot of variations according to the taste and choice of your family. My little one was down with fever for last few days. Was very happy to see her recovering and today morning she was just so fresh with her long-lost smile. So I made these rolls with her favourite cheese in it . She liked it very much and that made me super happy. I made two stuffing as am little reluctant in eating potato and cheese. So I made these rolls with kala chana stuffing. Do try it in your kitchen and give your feedback.

Ingredients:

Potato & Chees Stuffing
Brown Bread : 4 slices (you can use white bread as well)
Potato: 1 medium sized peeled, boiled and mashed
Onion: 1 small sized finally chopped
Processed cheese: 1 tbsp grated
Fresh coriander: 1 tbsp. finely chopped
Chillies: 1-2 chopped finely (I did not use it)
salt to taste
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
Semolina: 1-2 tbsp.
Oil for deep frying

Kala Chana Stuffing:
Kala Chana/chickpea (black): 2-3 tbsp soaked overnight and pressure cooked (3-4 whistles)
Onion: 1 small sized finally chopped
Fresh coriander: 1 tbsp. finely chopped
Chillies: 1-2 chopped finely (I did not use it)
salt to taste
Juice of half  lemon
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp

Method:

Take the bread slices and cut the edges of each and keep aside.

1.In a mixing bowl, add the boiled potato, mash it nicely. Add the onion, chillies, coriander, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, black pepper and combine them well.

2.For the kala chana stuffing, in the mixing bowl, mash the kala chana and add the rest of  the ingredients and combine them well.

Now take the bread slices and using a rolling pin roll the slices to stretch a bit. Take a spoon of the potato stuffing and place it on the centre of the bread , place some grated cheese on top of the stuffing and roll the bread gently but tightly and press the edges. Take the roll and press gently between the palms of your both  hands. Repeat the same for rest of the bread slices.

Repeat the same process for the kala chana stuffed rolls also.

Take the semolina in a dish and roll over the bread rolls over the semolina so that it coats completely.

Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan for deep fry. Start frying the rolls one by one and keep them on a tissue paper. Serve them hot with tomato ketchup/any dip/green chutney.

 

 

 

Few variations you can do with this dish is you can bake them other than deep fryingto make them more healthy. You can make chicken /paneer fillings as well and give you own twists with the spices.

Oats & Coconut Cookies

So it was a very dear friend's birthday yesterday. And I was excited  to bake a cake for her with lot of icing /frosting . Did not happen so as the husband is away on some work for a week , then the little one was not keeping well and finally I had to drop that idea. But my mind was not agreed to it, so i checked the pantry and found all the ingredients that required to make some cookies for her on her special day. I did taste one piece of it and found it quite ok barred the coconut flavour, which did not come out that well. Nevertheless i am happy as the friend liked them. So sharing this sweet story along with the recipe with you friends.

Ingredients:

Flour/Maida: 1/2 cup
Oats: 4-5 tbsp. roasted
Sugar: 3 tbsp.
Butter: 4 tbsp. softened
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: A pinch
Dry grated coconut (mine was store bought): 3 tbsp. and 1 tsp to sprinkle on the top of the cookies
Raisins: A handful
Egg:1
Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp


Method:

Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.

In a mixing bowl add the butter , sugar and mix well till it combines . Now add the egg and beat . Add the vanilla essence and whisk them very nicely.


In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda. Add the roasted oats, coconut and combine them all. Now in the above egg mixture , add the flour mixture slowly portion by portion. Mix them nicely. Add the raisins into it and combine all well into a dough like texture. If you find the dough a little dry or hard, you can add a little milk into it.

Grease the baking tray with oil or butter . Take spoonful of the mixture like small sized balls/small portions and keep them on the greased tray and flatten them gently with the back of the spoon keeping some gap in between them to allow  room for baking. Sprinkle remaining dry coconut and some raisins on top of each portion. Bake these cookies for 25-30 minutes at 180 degree Celsius  or till the cookies get that golden brown crust. Once baked , keep them on a cooling rack and keep in air-tight container and enjoy with your hot cup of tea/coffee and serve these crunchy cookies to your kids with their hot glass of milk.

Spicy Mint & Coriander Chutney

This Mint & Coriander chutney is something I learnt from my mother. Even when she makes it in a hurry , the taste is always a hit. I too have tried making this many a times but that taste & flavour never came out as I wanted. Yesterday I thought of trying my hands on this again and so I bought two bunches of fresh mint & coriander . Finally this time I got exactly what I wanted this long. The same flavour, taste , the spiciness ..everything was just so perfect and balanced. This chutney goes so well with your regular rice dal and makes it even more tastier. Use them as sandwich spread, with kebabs, patties etc.

Ingredients:

Fresh Mint & Coriander leaves: One standard medium sized  bunch of each (I bought per bunch @Rs10)
Garlic : 7-8  cloves
Ginger: 1 small piece (optional)
Green chillies: 2-3
Salt to taste
Tamarind pulp: 1/2 cup (I soaked one handful of dry tamarind in 1/2 cup of water for about 2-3 hours)
Vinegar: 1 tsp

Method:

Wash the mint and coriander leaves properly. Chop the coriander roughly with your hands and keep aside. Pluck the mint  and keep aside, discarding the twig . Roughly chop the green chillies .

Now take the grinder and add chopped coriander, mint leaves, garlic cloves, ginger, green chillies, tamarind pulp and vinegar. Add little water . Grind them till you get a smooth paste , slightly running like consistency. Transfer this chutney to a bowl and now add the salt according to your taste.

Heres the simple easy to make mint coriander chutney is ready. Keep it in refrigerator in air-tight container and use as and when you require. Advised to consume within 3-4 days.

 

Coconut chicken

A Chicken dish is a must for us non-vegetarians on weekends. This sunday the husband is away for some work and we the mommy and daughter duo are alone at home. So I got a 200gm of boneless chicken for two of us. First I thought of preparing some grilled chicken but then I realised I have a lot of curry leaves lying in the refrigerator and a packet of dry coconut. So I just cooked this chicken with lots of curry leaves and coconut. Do not know if any dish like this is already exist, but I named this version of mine as coconut wala chicken. Its a semi-dry preparation which we enjoyed very much with our regular plain rice, yellow dal, brinjal fry and salad. Some times things just turn out so well even when you experiment it for the first time and specially when my little one says "mamma its yummy" then I surely know that this was worth preparing in every way.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken : 200 gms washed and cut into medium sized cubes
Onion: 1 large sized finely chopped
Garlic & Ginger: 1tbsp crushed
Salt to taste
Black mustard seed: 1tsp
Curry leaves: 10-12 leaves
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1tsp
Chicken masala:1 tsp
Slit Green chillies: 1-2
Oil: about 3 tsp
Tomato puree: 1 tbsp. (I used the store bought)
Dry coconut : 4-5 tbsp


Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add the chillies, curry leaves.  Add immediately the chopped onions and stir till translucent. Now add the ginger & garlic and saute for few seconds. Add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, chicken masala and fry until mushy. Now add the chicken pieces and combine properly with all the other ingredients. Cook the chicken for about 7-10 minutes covering with a lid , checking in between. As I have used boneless one so it did not take much of time to get cooked. So just before the chicken gets cooked completely, add the dry coconut and mix well. Cook for another 5-7 minutes with the lid covered, keep checking in between. I did not add water separately as the chicken releases its water and also addition of the tomato puree helps to form the semi-gravy texture. Put the flame off once the chicken is cooked left with little gravy.

If you want a proper gravy/curry of this dish, you can always add water.

Garnish with grated fresh coconut (I did not use as I was out of stock), onion rings and serve hot with rice/roti and enjoy.

 

Boiled kidney beans salad with salsa my way

On weekends we mostly go out, sometimes for work, sometimes for movie, shopping , take out the kid for her play session etc. And we end up eating outside dinner or a lunch which I am sure most of us do, and as obvious it is not at all guilt-free. So I always make sure to balance that extra kilos I put on once every weekend by eating salad with very less oil/without oil, soup, grilled chicken/veggies etc. And trust me it makes me really feel lighter and there is always a feel good factor. This Saturday, after the sinful intake from outside , I decided to make this boiled kidney bean salad with salsa. Very healthy very light , this salad will surely help those weight-watchers. The salsa took up the salad to another level. Mind-blowingly tasty .. Salsa/Salsa dip is made in different ways as I have seen/read in different forums/internet. This one I did with some mix-match creative way. You must try this too and I am sure it will not disappoint you.

Ingredients:

Kidney beans/rajma : 1/2 cup soaked in water overnight (I used the small sized beans)
Tomato: 1 large sized blanched peeled and chopped finely
Onion: 1 medium sized chopped finely
Green chilli: 1-2 chopped
Green bell pepper: 1 small sized roasted and chopped finely (I roasted it over the gas with a fork inserted on it)
Fresh coriander: 2-3 tbsp. finely chopped
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
Vinegar: 1tsp




Directions:

Pressure-cook the kidney beans to 3-4 whistles. Let the pressure gets released on its own. Remember that we do not need to over-cook them. Once cooked, strain the water and keep aside.

To make the salsa:

In a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except the kidney beans. Combine them all very nicely and your fresh, healthy, low-fat and easy to make at home salsa is ready.
(This salsa can be eaten with grilled veggies, tacos, burritos, baked potatoes, bread, grilled chicken salad, paneer etc. So you can always make it and keep it in refrigerator for using)

Now in the ready salsa, add the boiled kidney beans, mix them nicely and enjoy this super healthy guilt-free salad.